Among the many types of eighteenth century tokens there are a few which
relate to canals and navigations. For the technically minded a canal
is a navigable waterway constructed entirely by the hand of man whereas
a navigation is an existing waterway which has been made navigable. Mostly
these tokens were issued by the canal proprietors but that is not always
the case. All bar one are halfpennies. I will deal with them by date
of issue.

Basingstoke Canal Shilling
1789

This is the sole issue that has a value other than a halfpenny and is
by far the rarest of them. The issuer was John Pinkerton, the contractor
employed by the canal company during the construction of the canal. The
Act authorising the canal was passed in 1778 but real efforts at starting
construction were not made until 1788 and it was completed in 1796. It
ran 37 miles from Basingstoke to Woodham near Woking on the River Wey.
It had one tunnel of 1200 yds at Greywell near the western end and 29
locks mostly at the eastern end. The canal was never a financial success
and passed through a series of owners down to the present day. The canal
is under active restoration at present and the Greywell Tunnel has recently
become a matter of some controversy as it is planned to restore it to
navigation but it is the roost of some thousands of bats which conservation
groups do not want disturbed. Pinkerton was contractor of a number of
canal projects including the Birmingham & Fazeley, Dudley and Erewash
several of which he appears to have been sacked from. The tokens were
apparently used to pay the navvies but there is some evidence that some
were used as presentation pieces to shareholders. The unusual denomination
must have severely limited their circulation, which explains their rarity.
This may have been deliberate, as it was frequently the practice of contractors
to set up their own shops to supply the workers with food and equipment.
The unpopularity of such a practice probably explains why others did
not follow Pinkerton's example. The diesinker was Wyon and the manufacturer
Thos Mynd of Birmingham.

Ketley Canal 1792

Obverse: IRON BRIDGE AT COALBROOK DALE. 1792 A Severn
Trow sailing under the bridge at Ironbridge. In field: ERECTED ANNO
1779. SPAN 100 FEET.Reverse: The winding gear at the top of Ketley Inclined
Plane. In exergue: INCLINED PLANE AT KETLEY. 1789Edge: PAYABLE AT COALBROOK-DALE AND KETLEY +

The Ketley Canal was an extremely small canal. It had an extremely small
length of only a mile and a half. It was built for extremely small boats
known as tub boats only 20ft long by 6ft 4ins beam. It had an extremely
small life span, being completed in 1788 and becoming disused by 1816.
Yet for all that it was remarkable in a number of ways. It was built
as a private venture by William and Richard Reynolds, proprietors of
the Coalbrookdale group of ironworks to supply coal and ironstone from
Oakengates to their works at Ketley. The canal passed first through a
20yd tunnel and arrived at the top of the Ketley inclined plane, which
is shown on the token. The boats entered a lock from which water was
drained allowing the boats to settle on a cradle that then passed down
the plane to the canal at the bottom. The traffic was all one way so
gravity supplied the motive power, full boats going down pulling empty
boats up. This was the first working canal incline in Great Britain though
some had previously been constructed on the continent. On the completion
of the Shropshire Canal the Ketley was linked to it by a short branch
with a lock. The Ketley works were dismantled in 1816, which removed
the need for the canal. The obverse of the token shows the famous bridge
at Ironbridge manufactured by the company with a Severn Trow sailing
below. The Severn was at this time navigable right through to Welshpool,
though at times with difficulty, as the towrope grooves on the arch of
the bridge clearly show. It is now navigable only as far as Ardley, just
north of Bewdley. The token appears to have been used to pay workers
throughout the Coalbrookdale group and is fairly common as three tons
were struck. The diesinker is again Wyon and the manufacturer Peter Kempson
of Birmingham.

The honour of the founder of canal transport must go to Francis Egerton,
third Duke of Bridgewater. He had coal on his land at Worsley that he
needed to fetch to Manchester in order to sell. He wanted to build a
canal from there to the river Mersey but the proprietors of the Mersey & Irwell
Navigation wanted such an extortionate toll to carry the coal from there
to Manchester that he decided to build the canal direct to the town carrying
it over the River Irwell by means of an aqueduct at Barton designed by
James Brindley. This previously unheard of proposal attracted much attention,
mostly critical, the engineer Smeaton saying that he had heard of castles
in the air, but had never before heard of where one was to be erected.
Its successful completion and later extension of the canal to Runcorn
for Liverpool thoroughly demonstrated the power of the new transport
system. Indeed, the Duke even extended the canals inside the mines with
special very narrow boats called starvationers being used to collect
coal direct from the face on two levels connected by an inclined plane.
The token shows the arms of the Duke of Bridgewater on the obverse with
the words SUCCESS TO NAVIGATION. The issuer was John Fielding, a Manchester
grocer and tea dealer. Presumably his stock was imported at Liverpool
and brought to him by the Bridgewater Canal. It is probable that the
tokens were used to pay his staff and as change in his shop. He issued
two other tokens with arms of the Grocers Company and East India Company
symbols on them. This token is also common, four tons being struck. The
diesinker was F Arnold and the manufacturer Wm. Lutwyche of Birmingham.

A curious token was constructed by Lutwyche for Thomas Ball, a grocer
and ironmonger of Sleaford. He used John of Gaunt's head from Worswick's
Lancaster token on one side and the Duke of Bridgewater's arms from Fielding's
token on the other with a proper edge for Ball but he couldn't even get
the town name right as he spelt it Seaford. Sleaford has its own navigation
from the town to the River Witham but I can trace no connection with
the Duke of Bridgewater so the token must be thought of as a concoction
of Lutwyche's to avoid the cost of making new dies for a small issue
as only three cwts were struck. The token is consequently scarce.

Sir George Jackson was Judge Advocate of the Fleet and MP successively
of Weymouth, Melcombe Regis and Colchester. He changed his name to Duckett
in 1797 under the terms of a will. He was sole proprietor of the Stort
Navigation which ran from Bishops Stortford to the River Lee and which
opened in 1767. He also built the short Hertford Union or Duckett's Canal,
which linked the Lee to the Regents Canal. He died in 1822 at the age
of 97. The magnificent token shows a perspective view of the navigation
with a horse towing a barge and on the reverse Sir George's arms. The
diesinker was Kuchler and the manufacturer Matthew Boulton at Soho. It
is fairly common.

Thames & Severn Canal
1795

The Act for the Thames & Severn Canal was authorised in 1783 and
completed by 1789, running from the Stroudwater Navigation at Wallbridge
to the Thames at Inglesham by Lechlade. It was built to two different
dimensions. The western end was for Severn Trows as shown on the token
and the eastern for Thames Western Barges. The transhipment point and
canal office from which the token emanates was at Brimscombe Port east
of Stroud in Gloucestershire. The canal was never a financial success
as it ran over difficult terrain from a geological point of view, suffering
heavily from water loss and maintenance costs to the 3817yd tunnel at
Sapperton. When built the tunnel was the longest in the country and its
eastern portal is shown on the token. The canal has sadly decayed though
many features still remain. There is an active restoration
group though it will be many years before through navigation can
again take place. The token appears to have been produced to pay staff
and in its carrying concern that unusually was run by the canal company
itself. The diesinker and manufacture were John G Hancock of Birmingham.
Three tons were struck which makes the token common though there is a
rare variety with striped sails on the Trow.

The Gloucester & Berkeley, later known as the Gloucester Ship Canal
and now the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal, was built to allow ships
to avoid the dangerous passage of the tidal Severn to Gloucester. It
crossed the Stroudwater Navigation at Saul on a level. It was commenced
in 1794 and work continued till 1799 when it stopped through lack of
money with less than half the canal completed. In 1804 they attempted
to raise £110,000 by lottery but the scheme was turned down by
Prime Minister Pitt himself. As the result of an Act to relieve unemployment
the Company were able to restart in 1818 and despite further financial
problems, the canal opened in 1827 heavily in debt, it taking 20 years
to pay off the Government Commissioners. The token shows a view of the
City of Gloucester and a sailing ship. It appears to have been used to
pay the navvies working on the first stage of canal's construction. As
with the Ketley token, the diesinker is Wyon and the manufacturer, Kempson.
Five cwts were struck and the token is scarce in good condition.

Other tokens have
a slight connection with waterways, particularly Wilkinson's issue with
a barge on the reverse which is supposed to be the iron barge 'Trial'
launched by him on the Severn at Willey wharf. There is also a token
showing a Tyne keel which I know of but have not been able to trace.
Otherwise these appear to be the only eighteenth century tokens with
a waterway connection and they form an interesting subset of the series.